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Summary:
In today’s episode, Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, CEO of Automattic, photographer, and world traveler, explains why he believes open-source is the only moral way for software to continue. Matt has witnessed the rapid advancement of open-source through his work with WordPress and has dedicated his life to democratizing publishing on the entire web. Although his lifelong mission is lofty to say the least, he maintains a balanced life with meditation, disconnected breaks, and travel. Listen in as Matt shares his opinion on culture, results, and taking control of your journey.
Time Stamped Show Notes
[01:30] –Introducing Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, CEO of Automattic, photographer, and world traveler
[02:00] – He loved the idea of making websites; he started coding by contributing to his own blog
[02:30] – Matt’s early days
[02:40] – He volunteered for B2-Cafelog and when they stopped being developed he posted on his blog about wanting to continue
[03:00] – He set up the software for 5 or 6 of his friends from his performing arts high school and those were the first ever WordPress sites
[04:27] – The most exciting thing about the journey
[04:42] – When someone he admires uses WordPress, he feels proud; he loves the open-source volunteers he works with from all over the world
[06:30] – Matt’s views on open-source technology
[06:40] – Everyone uses it and improves it, which makes improvement so much faster than if it were proprietary
[07:30] – It’s important for the community to see and help improve how our technology works
[08:00] – The WordPress hierarchal structure
[08:10] – Things get approved; but if someone disagrees with his decision, people can still take ideas and go a different direction
[08:56] – There are about 300-500 code contributors per release; this doesn’t include all the other positions that go into making a release possible
[10:35] – Dealing with people who disagree with his decisions
[10:53] – He engages with the community to hear their concerns and get input; Twitter doesn’t lend itself well to effective communication with the community
[12:20] – Matt’s self-care routine
[12:55] – He meditates with the Calm app; his self-awareness has improved with meditation
[13:25] – He thinks music is the most underrated mood-changer; he has different music for different tasks
[13:48] – He’ll listen to the same song or album on repeat to get in the zone; deep house and DJ sets help him get energy and focus
[14:50] – He uses the net “Sleeping Dragon” sound
[15:18] – Matt’s Burning Man experience
[16:40] – How Matt disconnects
[16:46] – At least once a year he completely unplugs and goes somewhere where connecting is difficult
[17:10] – He takes micro-breaks throughout the week and avoids things building up while he’s on vacation by working a bit each day
[19:50] – Tips for others running young companies
[20:06] – Don’t try to innovate in too many ways at the same time
[20:30] – Focus on hiring, retention, and letting go; it’s important how you treat your employees
[21:05] – It’s respectful to let go of those who aren’t a good fit
[21:55] – How Matt trusts the people he brings on
[22:28] – In the early days, he enjoyed doing all the jobs; then, he could hire for those jobs or delegate
[22:40] – He still loves to code but doesn’t necessarily like the way the company codes now
[23:30] – The importance of culture
[23:40] – He believes culture is an overused word; just practice what you preach
[24:30] – Emphasize that the rules are an iteration; keep building and reexamine your assumptions
[24:50] – Results keep you honest; Uber and Google as an example
[25:45] – Matt’s future
[25:50] – The goal of his companies is to democratize publishing; they want the whole web on an open-source operating system
[26:13] – He plans on working on this for the rest of his life
[26:50] – Their philosophy and quality of software keeps WordPress popular
3 Key Points
- Open-source is critical for rapid worldwide innovation.
- Practice what you preach.
- Results keep you honest.
Contact/Resources
- Primed Mind – Elliot’s Mindset App
- Calm – Meditation App
- net – Sound Site
- Work Rules! – Book
- Principles – Book
- Matt’s Instagram
- Matt’s Twitter
- Matts Website
- Automattic – Matt’s Company
- com – WordPress Add-on
